Casino public hearings

PUBLIC HEARING DAY 1 – MARCH 7, PRECEDED BY RALLYYour opposition and your numbers were duly noted by council, media and the public. Photos by Georgia Straight photographer Stephen Hui are here. We were joined by Olympic poet Shane Koyczan, May Brown, Retired Judge Ian Pitfield, Setty Pendakur, Ken Lum, Brian Jungen, Bing Thom and many other Vancouverites. All the media were present. Thank you everyone. You can see Shane Koyczan talk about political involvement and being heroes here (or scroll to bottom).

PUBLIC HEARING DAY 2:It was an excellent session at City Hall on March 8, largely dominated by opponents of the casino expansion. Speakers #14 – #32 gave presentations. There was also an 8:30 session in which councillors asked questions of city staff. We heard many excellent speeches to Council including those by coalition members Tom Durrie (Pres. of Grandview-Woodland Area Council; video below), and Patsy Macmillan and Fern Jeffries (co-chairs of the False Creek Residents Association). Hilary Reid, a gambling expansion researcher, gave a harrowing talk on the social and economic impacts of gambling, and Colleen (Hardwick) Nystedt, (daughter of Walter Hardwick), who worked on a city panel for the BC Place Stadium site, gave a brilliant presentation critiquing the planned use for the site and detailing the utter absence of public consultation over many years and councils.

PUBLIC HEARING DAY 3:The March 14 evening hearing began with sessions with the VPD and City Hall’s medical officer, and then proceeded with the speaker’s list for speakers #34 – #59. Three members of our coalition spoke (Sandy Garrossino, James Johnstone, Sean Bickerton) as well as former City Councillor Peter Ladner, former planner Nathan Edelson and many others.

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Our Supporters against the mega-casino

To see the list of all those who supported our 2011 fight against the mega-casino at BC Place, both individual citizens and organizations, click here.

For statements and letters from some of our many supporters, click here.

WHERE THINGS STAND:
We had a victory in 2011, but what we defeated was gambling expansion from 600 to 1200 slot machines. Soon after, Vancouver City Council nevertheless passed the building at its proposed massive size, ripe for future expansion. Now, in light of the 2013 Kendall Report which shows a doubling of severe gambling addiction in BC in only 5 years, we believe City Council must immediately institute harm reduction measures if it plans to allow the relocation and building of Edgewater Casino at BC Place Stadium, in easy reach of residents and young people. Proximity to casinos is a major factor in rising addiction rates.